Life Changes
by Sentiel Malfoy
Summary: Axel and Riku Montere are twins that don't exactly see eye-to-eye so when they come to new school, they bring all their old drama with them. Roxas and Sora are also twins but their lives are simpler... until the Montere boys come to town.
1. Chapter 1

Hello! This is my new AkuRoku. I hope you enjoy it and I'm sorry for what I did to Kairi and Tifa, I love them really!

* * *

**Chapter One- Just One More Set of Twins**

_The orphanage was cold as always, but it was early and the sun had only just risen. Two young boys lay huddled together under several blankets. They were both shivering due to the lack of early morning heat but also because of the fear, the fear that this day was going to be the same as the rest. Their lives had fallen into a routine here and it wasn't particularly fun. The nice women that ran the orphanage had decided that no one wanted to adopt nine-year-old twins so they had split them up to make them look more desirable but the boys never liked being apart._

_It was the same, day in, day out and the boys were sick of it. The knowledge that they were probably going to be stuck in that dingy place until they were 18 and kicked out wasn't much of a thought._

_They didn't lead much of a life._

~#~

(Roxas)

School was busy and bustling as always, only this time it was extra busy because of the new term. Christmas had come and gone along with the New Year, and before we realised it, we were back in school. It was still freezing cold outside and not all that much different in class because of the crappy heating systems. Sora and I had a good holiday, filled with way too much food, and although we're not too glad to be back at school, to tell the truth: I quite liked it.

I sat in form next to Naminé and watched her lazily doodle on a piece of scrap paper. She was an amazing artist and I often found myself staring at her while she was drawing, whether it was in class or elsewhere.

Form was boring, mostly because we never, ever did anything remotely fun or educational. Mrs Hill, our tutor, was a round woman with a head that moulded into her shoulders. She always wore the same horrid cardigans and the same knee length skirt and always sat at the front of class and did roll call with the same rough voice and then proceeded to sit there for the rest of the day. Naminé and I thought she looked a little but like a walrus but we would never say anything out loud.

I glanced up when I heard Sora yawning loudly. Sora is my twin brother and looks almost identical to me except he has brown hair while mine is blond. Despite the fact we have very similar looks we have _very _different personalities. I am quite laid back, I enjoy school and I tend not to freak out too badly about things, I also tend not to squeal or scream at any point in time. Sora on the other hand puts into practice all the squealing and screaming and over-reacting about things. He doesn't really like school and he is chirpier than laid back. We're opposites really. Oh and he also has a manipulative whore for a best friend while mine is a genuinely nice person.

Obviously, my best friend is Naminé. We met in primary school and shared a fascination with art- although I'm not very good at it- so bonded immediately. Sora's best friend is a girl called Kairi. She looks sweet enough with her dyed berry coloured hair and little pink shorts but in actual fact she has slept with half of the male population of the school- single or otherwise- and manipulated them into treating her like a queen only to crush them as soon as she pleases. I am certain that once she is done with the male half that she'll move onto the female half. Sora met Kairi in year 7, when she was all innocent and lovely, and they got on well but as they got a tad older, Kairi took an interest in guys and basically this interest got little out of control. Sora, being the good friend, stood by her and tried to stop her before she caught something but damn, that girl was unstoppable.

Sora flashed me a grin when he caught me looking at him, I smiled back. Just as I was about to turn back to Nam's drawing, there was a loud knock on the door and in walked two boys, one of which sported the most ridiculous hair I had ever seen. It was bright red and stuck up in wild spokes all over his head. The other boy had straight silver locks that hung much more gracefully around his face in a handsome manor. The entire class was looking them up and down, inspecting them like they were pieces of meat but that's what happens when a small town school gets new students.

"Err, miss," the redhead said to gain Mrs Hill's attention. She looked up and pushed her rounded glasses up her nose. "We're new here and we've been told that this is our form." Because of the size of the town, it was really unusual to get two new students in one day here so I guess they must me related? They certainly didn't look related but the redhead had said 'we' in such a natural manor… I should really not be going into so much detail.

"Names please," Mrs Hill said gruffly.

"Axel and Riku Montere," the redhead, Axel I'm assuming, said simply. Hm, so maybe they are related. They certainly don't look related.

Mrs Hill Looked over her notes for a minute or two before speaking, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen over the class. "Take a seat where you can find one," she told them. Looking around, I only spotted three available seats in the whole class: one next to me, opposite from where Nam was, one behind Sora and one next to the window. The redhead chose the seat next to mine and I wasn't best pleased. He didn't look like my type of person. The other one, Riku, went and sat next to the window, peering out with a bored expression. Mrs Hill started to type loudly on the computer keyboard, her face crinkled in concentration. The class settled into a low buzz of excitement over the new students, particularly the girls. They must need some new eye-candy around here.

"Sora and Kairi," Mrs Hill started, "You will take Riku and show him the school. You three have the same timetable." I turned back to see Sora looking at Riku with interested eyes. Kairi looked like she wanted to jump him. Riku doesn't know what he's got in store if Kairi decides to make him her bitch. "Naminé," I cringed, praying my name wouldn't come up next. "And Roxas," Damn it! "You will be showing Axel around the school, you also have the same timetable." Oh dear god, I didn't really like people and people generally didn't like me. This wasn't going to work. Naminé cast a quick glance at Axel but seemed to be more interested her drawing.

When I turned back to Axel he had his hand raised. Mrs Hill nodded at him; he lowered his hand and asked, "Who are Roxas and Nominé?" in a confused tone.

"It's Naminé," Nam corrected politely, extending a hand past me to shake Axel's. He smiled a cocky smile and took it.

"Sorry, Naminé," he apologised. "You wouldn't be Roxas by any chance, would you?" he said to me. I inwardly sighed. No I'm not Roxas, I'm just part of the furniture, ignore me lease. That's what I really wanted to say but instead I put on my best 'people' smile and answered him.

"Yeah, I am." We shook hands softly. "Nice to meet you." I didn't quite think I was convincing as Axel's smile had dropped. He leaned in close to me, so close I could feel the heat of his breath on my ear.

"Look, kid," he said quietly, so as not to alert attention to the conversation," I can see you're not comfortable with the idea of this. Don't pretend, okay? I can't stand people who are _fake._" I could hear the harshness in his tone and felt my own breath hitch as he almost spat the last word. Something about him was very strange indeed… for some strange, strange reason I felt myself drawn in. my heart was pounding for no other reason than Axel.

"I- I'm not _fake; _just didn't want to rude. I don't do people but you seem… alright, okay?" I managed, trying to calm myself down. Axel's lips were barely turned up at the corners but I could still see his forming smirk.

"You're real cute, kid," he smirked.

While we were having our little _moment, _Riku had been introduced to my brother and his whore of a best friend. I was still slightly peeved at Axel's comment about me being 'cute'; no one had ever called me cute, not even one of ex-boyfriends! Well, boyfriend… I'd only ever had one previous relationship and that had been a boy whose name I don't care to remember. We did get on well though and had a nice relationship but when it came down to it, we didn't have the right chemistry to carry on. He never called me cute, and he never spoke to me like Axel did. Axel wouldn't have meant anything by it, we only just met after all.

Before I knew it, Naminé, Axel and myself were heading to mathematics with Miss Lockhart. Creepily, Miss Lockhart used to date my dad, Cloud, when they were younger. She stopped liking me when she found out that I was his son. Guess they had a messy breakup.

Axel was a good guy. Nam had taken a liking to him right away. They were currently talking about their favourite artists while I was concentrating on melting into the crowd. It was working. Hardly anyone noticed me and it was just the way I liked it. I do realise how sad I am when I say this, but Nam is my only real friend and I'm perfectly comfortable with that. Sora is a friend too but he's also my twin brother and we're grown apart in the past couple of years.

"So, kid," Axel's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "Who's your favourite?" And thus my mind went blank.

"I have a name you know," I grumbled, trying to avert the conversation away from artists.

"You really are adorable." I felt my heart flutter. "But come on, artists!" he tried again but my mind was still no co-operating. To be truthful I didn't have a favourite artist. I admired art, I just don't pick favourties.

"I don't have any," he gave me a look, "I'm not joking!" Yeah, real smooth Roxas.

"Fair dos." Hopefully that wasn't him giving up on me. "How long does it take to get to maths anyway?" Axel groaned. He wasn't wrong to moan, our school grounds are massive and they managed to spread everything out for some unknown reason. Naminé and I were often late for classes but most teachers could let a couple of minutes slide.

Naminé giggled. "Not much longer."

We arrived to maths late, yay! Miss Lockhart gave me an evil glare and ordered me to sit. Of course she didn't do the same to Nam, that would be mean. I hope that my sarcasm is apparent. Axel handed her a note that he pulled from nowhere. She smiled at him and turned to the class. It was rumoured that she was actually a really nice woman but I didn't believe it.

"Listen up! This is your new classmate. Would you like to introduce yourself?"

"Hey, I'm Axel," he said in a slightly bored tone, like he had done this 1000 times before. A couple of the girls giggled and began to whisper to one another.

"Please be nice to him as it is his first day here and you all know what it's like to start at a new school." Lord, it was like she thought she was teaching seven year olds. "You can sit next to, hm." She scanned the room and pulled a sour face when she realised the only spare seat was next to her least favourite student. "Next to Roxas I think," she put on the sweet voice anyway and pointed to the seat next to mine. Axel made his way over to the desk and slumped down into his chair. The tables had all been pushed together in the maths room meaning we were sat a lot closer than before. He smelt quite nice actually, not to sound creepy or anything… yeah…

~#~

Axel kept trying to talk to me, all the way through maths and that drew Miss Lockhart's attention to me which resulted in some really dirty glared to get me to shut up. Hell, I wasn't even talking! I tried to shush him a couple of times but that didn't work. Ugh, that boy really got on my nerves. However there was still that thing about him that stopped me from punching him in the face.

Onto product design! Let me tell you a little something about product design. It's a nightmare. Seriously. Our teacher, Mr Tuesti, is a great guy but he couldn't teach to save his life. Usually, the class was in chaos and today was no exception. There was a group of girls at the back and a group of nerds at the front; they were the only people concentrating. Other than that it was a free-for-all. Me and Nam found our way to our regular work bench with Axel in tow and sat down on the _really _uncomfortable stools. Almost as soon as we did, a piece of cardboard flew past our heads followed by a lot of laughter and a grumpy shout from Mr Tuesti. The people causing the chaos were a group of idiots that were somehow also the most popular kids in school. They were nobs. All of them.

I had been at this school since I was 11 and they had always been way too loud and way too annoying. You'd have thought that they would grow out of it, but no, they most certainly did not. If anything they got worse. Anyway, the class wasn't as bad as I'd expected it to be. I mean no one had hot-glued themselves yet.

"Is it normally lie this?" Axel asked, scratching his head.

Naminé answered, "Yeah, pretty much. Well, sometimes it's worse. Hehe, don't worry you'll get used to it."

"What are you meant to do them?" he quizzed.

"We usually just get textbooks out and read them, but you can join in with the cardboard fight if you really want," she giggled.

"Nah, I'm good," Axel chuckled. During their conversation I just sat in the background, content with listening. There was nothing I needed to add. Maybe I started at Axel's face just a little bit but that's not important. His eyes are the most amazing green colour, like he was wearing colour contacts. Just under his eyes were tattoos, like real tattoos. They were triangular in shape and there wasn't a chance in hell that they were legal but hey ho.

I got the textbooks for the three of us and opened one with a sigh. This lesson was so dull. All I wanted to do was pass the course so I could get on with the more important subjects but I wouldn't be taking the exam until the end of the year which is still a few months away.

We're in year 11, by the way. I'm 15, almost 16 and am ready to get out of this school as soon as possible.

There wasn't too much talking during the lesson; we were fine with just studying. Axel told us about his old class and how much better it was. He kept smiling at Nam and me, guess he much lie us.

At break we met with Sora and Kairi who brought Riku with them. Sora was over excited (even more than I thought he would be) About Riku and Kairi still looked like she wanted him in her pants, which isn't a good thing. I felt sorry for him because he had to put up with my drooling brother and that whore, Kairi. I didn't have problem with amount of people she slept with, it was more the fact that she played them and made it impossible for Sora to have male friends.

Riku was smiling though when the trio approached but that smiled quickly turned into a frown when he caught sight of Axel.

"Roxas!" Sora yelled cheerily, glomping me with everything he had. I couldn't help but smile and hug him back hard; my brother was such a special case but he was a loveable special case. After a few moments he released me and gave Naminé a quick hug before turning back to me. "Have you guys met Riku? No, of course you haven't! Well, this is Riku," Sora gushed. He waved his arms in Riku's general direction but the silver haired boy was too busy glaring death at Axel. "Err, Riku?"

"Not corrupting the innocent again are you Axe?" Riku spat.

Axel put on a very fake smile and replied with gritted teeth, "No, 'course not. I see you've already started attracting them."

"What do you mean by 'them', Axe? Genuine people? You wouldn't know much about that, would you?" This was getting very awkward very quickly. None of us seemed to know how we were supposed to react.

"Nah, it's not like I've had any real friends. Just y'know, Dem and Larx and Luxord and the rest of them. What did you have? That slut that wouldn't stop humping you like a dog?" Axel voice was dripping with venom as he stepped closer to his brother. Naminé surprised us all by being the first to step in.

"Just stop it you two!" her voice rising higher than she's maybe intended. "Look, you both seem like nice people and if you are trying to impress us or something than you are going to wrong way about it. Please. Stop fighting. See you later Sora, come on Roxas." Sora numbly raised his hand to wave goodbye as Nam dragged me off. Kairi was smirking, probably caught up in her plans to molest Riku. Riku himself looked shocked at Nam's outburst. She was huffing something to herself as she walked away with me stumbling along behind her. I saw Axel snap out of his shock and jog after us.

"Look, guys. I'm sorry," he called out. I stopped and pulled my wrist out of Naminé's death grip. "Hey, sorry. Me and Riku are twins and we defiantly don't get along like twins. We're really different, okay and we clashed a lot when we were younger." Axel sighed and ran a hand over his spikes. I couldn't imagine Sora and I arguing like that. I mean, we've grown apart in the last few years but we've never gotten as bad as that and I hope we never will.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Axel. It's a real shame you two don't get on. The little brunette that was with Riku, Sora, he's Roxas' twin. They're close though," Naminé told him with compassion in her voice and a soft smile on her lips.

"Good for them," Axel muttered dryly before brightening up again. "It really is. Yeah, so, this isn't gonna be a problem, is it? 'Cause you guys seem pretty cool and all that," he said sheepishly.

"It's totally fine, isn't it Rox?" Nam said sweetly, nudging me.

"Yep," I nodded.

"Great," Axel grinned, "What do we have next anyway? It's gonna take me forever to learn a new timetable."

"English, I think," I replied.

"Awesome! So, where's that?"

~#~

English was the same as math only I enjoyed English a lot more and we didn't have a bitchy teacher. Axel got introduced at the start, he then got seated next to me- again- and the lesson progressed without fault. Our teacher, Mr Saïx, is a just a little strict but he's not completely insane. I wanted to go talk to Sora at lunch but when I saw him, Kairi and Riku sat at the back of the lunch hall, they looked too content for me to bother them.

Nam, Axel and I found a little table of our own and made ourselves comfortable in the crowded dinner hall. We ate our lunches and got to know our new student better. Axel was born in Hollow Bastion and moved around a lot as a kid. He had four brothers, all older than him. His favourite colour was red, like his hair and he liked fire.

We all got on really well which was a pleasant change from the awkwardness I usually experienced when it came to new people. Axel just seemed different to the rest of the people in this school. Every time we got a new person over here the 'cool' kids steal them away before anyone else got a chance to interact with them. Silly really.

After we ate we simply sat at the table, not wanting to go outside because it was freezing. Axel stated plenty of times how much he _hated _the cold weather. Sora had left the hall with his friends, shooting me a weak smile as he exited. This wasn't going to tear us apart of anything stupid like that. Sora and I are twins, not twins like Axel and Riku who don't even talk to each other anymore. We used to be so though, though. We never left each other's side. Riku and Axel need to sort themselves out if they were going to stuck around with us because as much as I hated Kairi, she could put up with me and I her just for the sake of Sora. As it happens they've only actually been at this school for a day, less than a day in fact and they've already caused so much drama.

"Roxas?" Naminé snapped me out of my thoughts. "it's time for art."

"Oh yeah," I said, getting up. The walk to art was mad in silence with the exception of Axel's humming. He had a pleasant voice, it wasn't too deep and not too high and had an appealing rough edge that didn't come through too strongly.

Good lord I'm attracted to the boy. Hey, like I didn't already know that. Yes, Axel is very attractive but I don't want to make a move on him- A: because I didn't want to mess up our forming friendship and B: because I wasn't 100% sure how to make a move on someone without making a complete and utter fool out of myself.

Once in art, Miss Paine started to tell us what we were doing today in her bored voice. Apparently we were painting the most recent dream we remembered which was just a little awkward for me because I can't remember any of my dreams. Axel and Naminé parked up a lot though, I'm glad they were going to have fun. The first art project of the year was always the most fun because Miss Paine took that time to ease us into the course.

Thinking about it, I did have this one dream a lot then I was little that has stuck with me. However I didn't want to draw it because it's personal. Plus it's sort of weird.

When Sora and I were younger we lived in a place called Destiny Islands. It was beautiful and someday I really want to go back there, but that's not the point. This was before our mother died so as you can imagine we had to be young and we were very happy children. We would spend ages on the beach just playing. I used to have this dream where Sora and I were on the beach and then this boy would get washed in with the tide. He had silver hair and sea-green eyes and he used to tell Sora about how he could run away with him and he would be happy forever. Then this girl with jet black hair would come to me but I never heard what she tried to say. Just a flash of red and the dream ended with me waking up.

I haven't had the dream since mum died and that was almost ten years ago.

I set up my easel and got a canvas. Naminé and I always painted side-by-side, it was our unspoken tradition but to tell the truth, I was just interested in watching her paint. Axel sat on the other side of Nam and was also transfixed when she started painting. All I can say is she is an amazing artist- no one can argue with that. I wouldn't be surprised if she never actually had to work a real day in her life because all she would have to do to earn a living would be paint and draw. And she loved it so it was a win-win situation.

Dreams were really freaking boring to talk about so we almost never did. Who knows what she was going to paint but she'd started out with a long, board stroke of black so whatever it was, it was going to be dark. That's what surprises you about Naminé: she looks all sweet and innocent but she's not like that inside. I mean she's a really nice person but she's not nearly as naïve as people think she is.

Screw it! I'm going to draw the scene of that silver-haired boy getting washed up on the beach because that was the most prominent part of the dream. Now that I think about it, he did look a little bit like Riku but since I only met the boy today, it could not be him.

During the hour, I kept glancing over at my blonde friend to see what she was up to. Nam was drawing a figure in a black coat. The coat extended down to its ankles and it was clad in big black boots. Chains hung around its neck with weird pendant things hanging off them and the hood was pulled over its head and face to conceal whatever was beneath. Its gloved hands were held at its side in tightly clenched fists and its body was curly forward ever so slightly. I'm kind of glad we never talk about our dreams but that is really weird.

I wondered what kind of dream had a figure clad in black. Normally when she drew it was of the Destiny Islands beaches (She has been there a few times with her family and loved it there). I love the way she draws the landscapes. Although most of the things she draws are light and happy, sometimes she likes to draw the darker side of life.

When the hour lesson was up, I had just managed to finish the painting. It was rough but it was done.

Axel let out a low whistle as he examined Nam's complete painting.

"Wow, you're really talented!" he exclaimed.

"Thank you," Nam giggled, "Yours looks good as well."

Axel's dream was of several men with really weird hair all stood in a dark room. It was rough, like mine but I could tell there was more skill put into it than mine.

Axel looked at mine and made a comment about the boy looking like his brother. I laughed along with him even though I wasn't completely sure what he was laughing about.

Last period was PE. I hate PE. I really, really hate PE.

I'm not a sporty person. I can run and crap but not for fun. To make matters worse we were all stuffed into stupid shorts and ill-fitting trainers and pointless polo shirts. This term we were swimming though. I do like swimming considerably more than running or any type of team sports we played. However I'm not so keen on swimming with the rest of the boys in my year. I'm quite small and scrawny compared to some of the others. Naturally, they all give me crap about my shitty body. I also get spilt up from Naminé because girls and boys don't do PE together.

Axel had to sit this one out with his brother. They glared at each other the entire time. The only bright side to this is that Sora gets to do it with me. Our teacher is Mr Xigbar and I'm not sure if he should be working with kids or not. He only had one eye and his hair is streaking with grey, along with that he has a very crooked smile and tends to swear _a lot. _The little year sevens are terrified of him!

"Loser, do laps!" Mr Xigbar yelled at us once we were in the ice-cold pool. No one moved. "What are you waiting for? Get on with it!" he shouted. I sighed and started off at a sluggish pace along with the rest of the boys and that's how the rest of the period went.

Sora and I swapped notes about Axel and Riku in the changing rooms. According to Sora, Riku isn't as cold as he seems and is a really nice guy once you get to know him. I did remind Sora that he'd known Riku for a mere 6 hours. Sora also recounted what happened after the little confrontation at lunch. Riku had apologized and explained about his and Axel's relationship. Basically Riku had said the same as his twin. Sora tried to act unconcerned about their distant relationship but I know he wanted to get involved. Personally, I didn't want to get in the middle of it. If I did then excessive and unnecessary drama would follow and I hated drama.

Naminé was waiting for me when I came out of the changing rooms. She told me that Axel had left with Riku lagging behind him, but had left me a scrap of paper with his number on it. My heart did a tiny jump when I realised what it was.

I'm an idiot.

"So, what do you think of Axel?" Nam asked me as we exited the school gates.

I smiled. "I like him."

She giggled. "Does Roxas have a crush?" she sent on to tease. I shoved her lightly and she began to giggle again. And then all the blood pooled into my cheeks.

It was mortifying.

"No, of course I don't!" I said too defensively. "What did you think of him anyway?" I changed the subject quickly by returning to Nam's previous question.

"He's cool. Sora seems to have taken a liking to Riku," Nam commented.

"Hm, so did Kairi," I tried not to grumble but I didn't try hard enough.

"I doubt she would make a move on Riku, he's _way _out of her league." Oh Nam.

"Pfft. Not for her she's not, she will sleep with anything!" We burst into laughter simultaneously.

Nam smacked my arm. "Roxas, that's mean!"

"But true," I informed her, wiping my eyes.

"It's not a bad thing." I gave her a look. "It gives the rest of us hope."

I shook my head in disbelief. "This is your stop." We reached Naminé's house quicker than I thought we would and waved her goodbye as she walked up to her front door.

Once the door was shut, I carried on my way home, dragging my feet as I went. I fished around in my pocket for my iPod and felt paper brush my fingers. Confused, I pulled the slip out and saw Axel's messy handwriting. A smile graced my lips as I placed it back inside my pocket and pulled out my ipod instead.

This was going to be interesting.

* * *

If you liked it then please drop a review? Constructive criticism is very much appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two- The Montere Household**

**(Axel)**

"Nice to see you made an effort, Yaz," I said drying as I entered the living room to find Yazoo, my second oldest brother, sprawled out on the couch in his boxers, watching some crappy day time TV show. He made an irritated voice in response and changed the channel. I sighed and headed over to the kitchen, throwing my bag onto the island work surface once I was there.

Today I started the third school of this academic year and it didn't suck as badly as the other two. Usually, starting a new school was hell because people were nosey and attempted to drag you into their little social groups without even knowing the first thing about you. My new school was only small, though and the people were pleasant. In form I was given two guides called Roxas and Naminé- at least I hope that's what they're called, I've been calling them that all day. Roxas seemed cold at first but he soon warmed up once I got to know him a bit more. I'll admit it, he's cute.

Riku is over by the sink getting a drink and I as much as I want to shove his head under the tap for what he said earlier, I refrained from doing so. You know this is why we don't fit into new places very well, because _someone _can't let our past go. It's strange because we used to be the perfect twins in primary school but as soon as we got turfed out of their and into high school, stuff began falling apart. Dad says it is because our personalities are too strong for our bodies but Kadaj told me that's the same thing he told him and Yaz and Loz when they had trouble in school.

There are five of us, five brothers and none of us had a particularly good social life. Yazoo and Loz got on well with the jocks but Yazoo was too cocky for his own good so they kicked him out. Loz, wanting to stand up for his little brother, beat up some of the assholes and got shunned from the social standings. Kadaj was too weird to fall into the social hierarchy of school so he lived in the library. Riku and I were just shoved into the wrong groups before we had the chance to prove ourselves.

That's when we stopped being so friendly. Rumours started up about our faily and we couldn't do anything to stop them. I thought Riku might have something to do with it all because he hated only having Dad to rely on. Naturally, he thought that I had started them due to my hatred of being the family outcast.

It's true though, I am the family outcast. I mean just look at me. I have bright red- natural- hair and these stupid tats under my eyes because I got drunk and some of my old 'friends' dragged me to a tattoo parlour. The fact that I was totally not sober and underage didn't seem to faze the artist at all and he gave me these things as suggested by my wonderful 'friends.' Dad nearly killed me. The only thing that connects me to my brothers is a bit of DNA and our eyes, they are all the same shades of electric green.

My twin turned away from the sink, glass in hand, and shot me a dirty look before heading upstairs. He passed Kadaj on his way up. Kadaj is the third child and may or may not have middle child syndrome. He was the friendliest though.

"Hey Axel! How was the new school?" Kadaj asked me as he entered the kitchen.

"Fine. Met some people. Riku's still crazy," I told him. Kadaj just rolled his eyes.

"He's not _crazy." _I shot him a look. "Well, no more crazy than the rest of us." Kaddy gave me a smile and patted me on the back.

"Uhuh. Where's dad anyway?" I asked him.

"Oh, he's in his office; he's got to catch up on work from after the move. I've been unpacked all day with Loz and Yazoo… although Yaz wasn't much help," he pondered on that last thought.

"He never is, anyway, I'm gonna go see dad." I walked past Kadaj and up the stairs, Kadaj told me not to bother dad but I ignored him. Dad was almost always busy with work, it's a shame but at least he didn't hover over as all the time. The new house we moved to is way bigger than the last meaning that I didn't have to share my room with Riku this time. With six guys living in one house it needs to be big and a 5 bedroom- Loz and Yaz were sharing the basement- house isn't cheap so we're lucky that Dad has such a good job, even if it does take up most of his time.

I found my way to dad's office after much searching. It wasn't even upstairs and it pissed me off that Kadaj didn't bother to correct me when I started to go up there. He was sat at his desk with a phone to his ear and papers scattered everywhere. Normally, he's a today man but I guess today is an exception. Dad had his hair tied up for once in a girly bun, I wanted so badly to comment on it but refrained from doing so because he would probably ground me. Dad's hair is the longest in our family, closely followed by Yazoo. It's silver, just like all my brothers' and reaches all the way down his back. God knows how long it took to grow but I do remember trying to cut it when I was little- I don't think that ended well.

He heard me come in and spun around on his chair to face me in a very dramatic way. I envy that chair, it's so awesome. "Sorry, I'll have to call you back. Goodbye, Cloud." He hung up on who I presumed was Cloud. "Hello Axel, how was the school?"

"Hey dad. It was great. Well, as good as school can go," I answered him. Dad and I were close-ish I suppose. I mean he raised me by himself but with four other sons, it was easy for things to slip under the net. He's not amazingly close to any of us, really but I know he seems to favour Kadaj when it comes down to it.

"Good, good. Is Riku okay?" he continued.

I only grunted in response. To be honest, I didn't really care.

"Axel, I know you and Riku have had your differences but you're 16 now, don't you think you start to patch things up?"

I grunted again and heard dad sigh. His chair swiftly swivelled back around as I decided to make my exit.

I ran back up the stairs and found my new room. Flopping ever so gracefully down onto the bed, I grinned as I remembered the people I met. Sure, I had friends before but there was something about them that told me we were going to be friends for a long time.

With a happy sigh, I propped myself onto my elbows and checked out my room: there were still several boxes laying around my new room from where I had been too lazy to unpack them. I have way too much stuff. All my clothes were out of the boxes, though. Dad made me unpack those first because he didn't like it when we wondered around the house half-naked although his disapproval didn't stop us.

The front door suddenly slammed shut followed by yelling which could only mean that Loz was home. There was no doubt in my mind that he was telling at Yazoo, serves him right for being so lazy.

I put some music on and closed my eyes to block out the sound of Yaz and Loz fighting but so found myself drifting off to sleep.

I woke just as the doorbell went off. My iPod had run out of charge and was now laying silent on my bedside table. That was my fault for asking Kadaj to plug it in before I went to bed last night.

Yazoo yelled for someone to get thee door. It opened and someone began chatting cheerfully on the other side. There was a sweet sounding female voice coming through along with a chipper boy's. Ugh, I think it's those kids that Riku met at school.

I dragged myself out of my warm, comfortable bed to go see what was happening and if the people at the door were Riku's little friends. As soon as I reached the hall I confirmed that the two people at the door were in fact Riku's friends. What was the brunet's name? I'm sure Naminé told me… Sora! That was it. I didn't know the name of the girl standing next to him though, no one told me her name and I don't recall being in any classes with her. Yazoo had answered the door and he was still only clad in his boxers. The girl was eating him with her eyes… ew. Sora didn't seem to be bothered by it though, he was busy yapping to Yazoo like a little dog.

Yazoo had had enough and turned to me and said, "I'm gonna go get Riku for these two, you keep them entertained." He patted my shoulder just like Kadaj had done earlier and proceeded to yell very loudly up the stairs. I turned awkwardly to the two in the doorway and decided the best course of action would be to put on a cocky grin.

"Wanna come in and wait for him?" They nodded and I walked them into the house. Sora was already starting to yap my ear off.

"Hi, Axel is it? I think that's what your name is, right? Sorry if it's not. I don't think we met properly earlier. My name is Sora and this is Kairi. Roxas really likes you by the way. I think you two are gonna be really good friends once you get to know each other better but we're really happy to meet you…" It carried on after I stopped listening. The newly named girl, Kairi, cut across him once we were stood in the living room.

"Shush, Sora. Sorry about him," she purred, now talking to me. She stepped a little closer and fluttered her eyelashes. "He gets a little too much sometimes," she giggled and wound a strand of berry coloured hair around her finger, "Nice to meet you. Very nice." Kairi bit her lip and swung backward a little bit so that her chest was pushed towards me. I think a may have cringed or something because she suddenly looked mortified and spin around to talk to the brunette.

Luckily, Riku decided to get his lazy ass over here at that moment. "Hey guys." He looked happy to see them. "Axel leave, we wouldn't want you-"

"Don't even start!" I snapped harshly. Bastard. I went back to my room and left them to it. Anger was slowly bubbling inside me. Riku fucking sucked at being a brother.

I turned my laptop on and went straight to Facebook via Google Chrome. I wasn't a huge fan of all the interest social thingy's but it helped me keep in touch with the few friends I left behind from the last move. In the school that I attended for the final six months of last year I got involved with a group of people even now I'm not too sure about but they were alright, apart from the drugs and booze. Demyx was the guy I really got attached to, even though he sold weed for the extra munny. He happened to be online so why not have a chat?

**Me: **hey dem  
**Demyx: **HI AXEL! (He has a thing for caps lock)  
**Me: **wuu2 (The traditional conversation starter)  
**Demyx: **TRYING TO GET HOLD OF ZEXY BUT U NO WAT HES LIKE U?  
**Me: **nothing. Just met some of riku's new friends btw  
**Demyx: **OOOOOOO WAT R THEY LIKIE?  
**Me: **ones a slut. Seriously dude she tried to seduce me a couple of mins ago. And the other is an idiot… even worse that you lol  
**Demyx: **HARSH MAN MET ANYONE COOL? :D  
**Me: **yeah a couple of kids  
**Demyx: **ARE THEY BETTER THAN ME? :'((((  
**Me: **theyre not druggies for a start -_-  
**Demyx: **RUDE! I DON'T TAKE THEM!  
**Me: **sureeeee….

We talked for couple of hours before I had to go down for dinner. Loz had ordered pizza. Sora and Kairi had left sometime in the past and left Riku in a really good mood. Shame. Not that I didn't like it when my little twin was happy, I just thought his smile was creepy. It was even creepier when I caught a goofy grin on his face while I demolishing my pizza. Riku never looked like that; not unless he met someone super awesome. Let's just hope he hadn't fallen for Kairi, that would get very nasty very quickly. It was too soon to say anything anyway.

Kadaj and Loz had finished unpacking all out stuff, apart from the personal items so would be heading off to find jobs and college. Job searching for Loz and the college for Kadaj. Yazoo claimed he was taking a gap year but that fails as he isn't actually going anywhere.

Dad told us all about his work- again- hoping some of us might miraculously take an interest and want to join in. Dad is a scientist. He researches this thing called Mako, which, according to him, could power whole cities one day. None of us have even the slightest interest in science. I like setting things on fire in chemistry but that's about the extent of it.

Loz wants to be a builder or something similar. Kadaj wants to become a vet, which is sort of related a science a little bit. Yazoo wants to live on a couch for the rest of his life. Riku doesn't know yet and I want to be an artist. I think I'm okay at art, I could be wrong but that doesn't matter.

After dinner I went back on Facebook to find no one online. To make matters worse I remembered that I had been given homework already. It wasn't due until Friday which gave me plenty of time to do it. In the end I decided to start unpacking more of my things.

~#~

I finished all the unpacking by nine. Riku surprised me by walking into my room and sitting on my bed with that weird, creepy grin on his face. I was in the right mind to kick his ass out but wanted to hear what he had to say first.

"Do you believe in love at first sight, Axe?" he said dreamily. It caught me off guard.

"No. Why, Ri, did you and Kairi kick it off?" I teased him after I regained my composure. He shook his head no. "What so you and shorty?" To my shock, he didn't get all grumpy of me; he just bit his lip and nodded carefully. "Seriously, dude?" He nodded again.

"I didn't think it was possible but my heart just wouldn't stop thumping and I felt really nervous and I never feel nervoise, Axel." He looked uneasy for a second. "What has this place done to me?"

We had only been here two days, so, nothing but I didn't tell him that. Instead I decided to give him some crappy advice! "Just. You know. Tell them. You might, like, kiss and stuff…" You might have guessed this already: Romance isn't my strong point.

"You're right!" he announced stating up. "I should call him right now!" This was so not like Riku it was scaring me.

"Nonono, do not call them. I was joking, Ri. Please leave, you're freaking me out." I almost shoved him out of the door. Ugh, I never want to encounter that Riku ever again.

~#~

_Beep beep beep beep beep_

"UGHHHHHH," I groaned loudly, hitting my alarm clock so hard it might have broken just a little bit. No one likes alarm clocks.

"AXEL, SHUT UP!" Riku yelled at me from the room next to mind. Why _shout _at someone to be quiet? Riku is a genius but his screaming set off Kadaj who threw something out of his bedroom door. Yazoo and Loz slept like logs so they never got involved with the morning drama. Dad was awake already as I could hear him cooking breakfast for us in the kitchen.

It took me a few minutes before the smell of dad's cooking lured me out of the warm sheets and into the cold. I flung the covers off and was pleasantly surprised when my legs didn't turn to ice immediately. As much as I like hot weather, I could deal with the cold when I had to.

I trudged down the stars at a snail's pace and into the kitchen to grab some orange juice. Dad was in fact cooking bacon and eggs in his very manly apron. Lifting to the carton to my lips, I was about to take a sip when: "Ahem."

"Morning, dad," I grinned cheekily and pulled a glass out of the cupboard. Some of the juice went on a counter in my sleep state but I'm sure dad would be able to clean it up.

He gave me a look as he handed me my breakfast. My smile turned sheepish. I went back upstairs to eat my food while finding school clothes. I was well stocked up with the new uniform which consisted of a blue blazer with a white shirt and ugly blue tartan trousers. A little reminder went off in my head that I was going to see Roxas and Naminé again. A thin smile wound its way onto my lips which made me feel like an idiot but who cares?

Breakfast was wolfed down and clothes were tossed on. By the time I was ready, it was time to go. I can't wait to get my driver's licence but being 15 and one of the youngest in the year meant that it would be a good, long while before I would drive a car.

Riku and I had chosen to walk to school together in case one of us got lost on the new track. That was not my decision, just for the record. We said our goodbyes to Dad and Kaddy- who had managed to drag himself out of bed for college- before leaving.

The walk to school was made in awkward silence, broken by the sound of Riku's iPod blaring into his ears at an unhealthy volume. I'm not going to lie though, I listen to mine louder. The memory of last night's Riku popped into my mind.

"Hey, Ri?" I poked his side to grab his attention. He pulled an earphone out.

"What?" he said in a monotone voice.

"You still got that Sora kid on your mind?" I grinned as I saw a blush creeping onto his cheeks.

"Stupid, isn't it?" The pink turned to violent red. What the fuck has he taken?!

"Yeah, it is." We fell back into silence.

**~#~**

**Yay! Another chapter. This one is a little shorter than the other but I'm sure the word count won't fluctuate too drastically ^^ Thank you to everyone who reviewed/faved/followed! I got more of a response than I thought I would which is wonderful. Thank you for reading babies!**


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